The number of contactless payments made via mobile handsets will reach 148 million globally this year, according to a study conducted by Juniper Research.

Samsung and Apple will account for approximately 70 per cent of new customers.

The study showed consumers have been receptive to this payment method, predominantly because of their strategic placement. When Apple Pay was introduced in China, nearly 40 million payment cards were registered to the service in 24 hours in mid-February.

Nearly one in five point-of-sale terminals in the US are now contactless-capable, with the report finding this will see smartphones be the number one driver of contactless payments in the US. The report also revealed banks and leading “over the top” players will deploy Host Card Emulation-based (HCE) models.

“The combination of HCE and tokenisation is extremely attractive to banks. HCE means that they are not dependent on a mobile operator to enable the service; tokenisation reduces the burden on the issuer and allows them to use their existing infrastructure,” research co-author, Dr. Windsor Holden said.

The study also found that NFC sticker-based solutions can be ‘risky,’ stating that in closed-loop solutions, ‘there’s a chance thieves could simply use all the money in the wallet at participating retail outlets.’